Cartridge for fire-arms



(No Model.)

I J. P. LEE.

CARTRIDGE FOR FIRE ARMS.

No. 878,255. Patented Feb. 21, 1888.

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N4 PETERS. mwmm n ber. Wasnm'gtoql a N ITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

JAMES P. LEE, OF ILION, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES M. DALLY,

- OF HONTGLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

CARTRIDGE FOR FIRE-ARMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,255, dated February 21, 1888.

Application filed June 24, 1887. Serial No. 242,349. (No model.) Patented in England April .8, 1887, No. 6,233; in France June 4, 1887, No. 184,922, and in Austria-Hungary October 18, 1887, No. 22,816.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES P. LEE, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Ilion, New York, United States of America, have invented new and useful Improvements relating to Cartridges for Fire- Arms, (for which'I have applied for provisional protection in Great Britain, No. 6,233, dated April 28, 1887, and which invention has been patented in France June 4, 1887, No. 184,922, and in Austria-Hungary October 18, 1887, No. 22,816,) of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to cartridges for firearms, and comprises the improvements hereinafter set forth.

It is well known that,in the use of magazineguns with cartridges as heretofore constructed having projecting heads or flanges, the feeding of a cartridge from the magazine into the barrel, by the breech-bolt in its forward movement, is sometimes prevented by reason of the head of the said cartridge being behind the head of the cartridge next succeeding it in the magazine, and considerable inconvenience, delay, and, in some instances, danger are occasioned by the consequent necessity of disengaging t-he heads of the said cartridges before the gun can be loaded and fired. To obviate this defect cartridges have, in some instances, been made without heads or flanges, a circumferential groove being formed in the cartridgeshell to permit the engagement of the extractor therewith. In cartridges made without heads, however, it is necessary to provide means for preventing the thrusting of the cartridge too far into the chamber of the gun and for preventing forward movement of the cartridge-shell in the said chamber when the gun is fired. The means hitherto provided for these purposes have not proved satisfactory.

In carrying out my invention I combine, in a measure, certain features of thetwo forms of cartridge. That is to say, while dispensing with the wide flange or head, by means of which flanged cartridges are ordinarily extracted, I form this cartridge with a head or flange which is intended as a retaining-flange merely-that is to say, with a head or flange of but slightly greater diameter than the body of the cartridge, which, though sufficient to prevent the cartridge from being forced too far into the chamber of the gun, is not of such extent as to secure a sure engagement with the extractor. In addition to the flange, therefore, I form a circumferential groove in the cartridge immediately in front of the flange or head. This groove serves to widen the flange, forming together with it a shoulder or engaging surface of sufficient extent to insure a proper engagement of the extractor. The pres ence of any heads or flanges, however small, has the disadvantage of offering shoulders or projecting rims which are liable to encounter one another,and thusinterfere with the proper movement of the cartridges in the magazine. I therefore intend, whenever the character of the cartridge permits it, to form a distinct bevel or chamfer around the edge of the head at the end of the cartridge, so that if the edges or flanges of the cartridges encounter one another the beveled edge of one will permit the other to slip easily over it.

I have illustrated these improvements in the accompanying drawings, in which .Figure 1 is a side View of a cartridge embodying the several features above described. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion of the same drawn to an enlarged scale. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are longitudinal central sections illustrating a particular method of making one form of my invention.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, which exhibit all the novel characteristics of my improved can tridge, a is the shell,and b the projectile, comwith a square shoulder or otherwise properlyadapted to effect engagement with the extractor of a gun. The edge or under surface of the flange c is beveled or chamfered, as at c, for the purpose above set forth.

These cartridges may be made in a variety of ways; but a convenient and economical method of producing a cartridge embodying the main features of my invention I have illustrated in Figs. 3, 4, and 5.

I take a blank,of the form shown at a in Fig. 3, produced from sheet metalfor example,by drawing in the usual manner and then upset the closed end thereof, as shown in Fig. 4:. Then,by impact or pressure applied to the said closed end while the blank is suitably supported,I cause the metal to bend or buckle in ward until a circumferential groove, (1, of the required depth is formed in the said blank, as shown in Fig. 5; or I form the groove by means of rollers.

My cartridges are very advantageous for use in magazine-rifles in which the breech-bolt is arranged to thrust a cartridge from the magazine into the barrel in its forward movement, because should the head of a cartridge which is about to be thrust into the barrel be behind the head of the next succeedingcartridge in the magazine the former,when pushed forward by the breech-bolt, will slide up the inclined or beveled surface of the latter, and there will be no difficulty in loading the gun.

My improved cartridges afford the further advantage that when several of them are placed in a magazine, one above another, their axes will be more nearly parallel to each other, and they will consequently occupy less space in the magazine than the flanged cartridges, heretofore usually employed. They are also advantageous in occupying less space when packed for transport.

The extent ofp roj ection of the head or flange beyond the body of the cartridge will depend upon the size of the cartridge,the essential point being that the head must project sufficiently to prevent the thrusting of the cartridge too far into the chamber.

Myimproved cartridge can be more advantagcously manufactured than the ordinary flanged cartridges, as very little working of the metal is required in the formation of the head or flange.

As above stated, the cartridges are formed with a retaining flange or head, and by retaining I wish to imply a slightly pro jecting rim or flange, which is distinguished from the usual flanges in that it does not and can not in itself afford for the usual extractors an engaging surface or shoulder of sufficient extent to insure the extraction of the shell, but which is merely intended for and serves as a check, which, abutting against the rim or edge of the bore of the barrel, prevents the shell from being thrust into the barrel by either the loading mechanism or the force of the explosion.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. Ametallic cartridge formed with a flange of a diameter to constitute a retaining-flange merely, and with a circumferential groove or recess immediately in front of said flange, whereby the engaging surface or shoulder for the extractor is formed by the retaining-flange and the groove conjointly, as herein set forth.

2. A metallic cartridge provided with a head or flange projecting slightly beyond the body of the shell and beveled or chamfered at its edge, and a circumferential groove formed in the shell immediately in frontof the flange, whereby the shoulder or engagingsurface of said flange is widened, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

J. 1?. LEE.

Vv'ituesses:

DAVID YOUNG, PERCY I. I-Inncns. 

